Portable field-fence



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

W. B. BURNETT, OF LYONS, NEW YORK.

PORTABLE FIELD-FENCE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 16,265, dated December 23, 1856.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. BURNETT, of Lyons, in Wayne county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improved Portable Fence; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, through letters of reference marked thereon, forming part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1represents a plan of the fence as set up. Fig. 2, is an elevation of the same.

The same letters of reference occurring in each ligure, indicate corresponding parts.

In the construction of portable fences, it is desirable to dispense with all unnecessary lumber ordinarily used for footing and bracing them, as this is found to be fully as cumbersome and weighty as the other part of the fence, and consequently takes double the amount of time and labor necessary to remove it from place to place; it is also a consideration to dispense with all slots and mortises, which weaken the fence and form lodgments for water, which soon decay it at such parts.

To produce a fence that is free from all these objections, and that can be loaded on a wagon or other vehicle in the most compact manner, and in the smallest possible space for hauling from place to place, and be set up or taken down as rapidlyV as it can be unloaded or loaded, and at the same time be equally strong and more durable, constitutes the object and nature of my invention.

To enable others to make and use my improved portable fence, I will proceed to describe its construction and arrangement.

By referring to the drawing, I construct a series of trays (A) composed of four or more rails (B) with two or more uprights (C), so put together that they will lie compact and flat upon each other for the purpose of hauling, or storing away for preservation when not in use; the rails (B) are all of uniform length, and arranged so as to project alternately at either end of the tray, that is to say, the rst and third projecting about five or six inches more or less at one end, and the second and fourth projecting the same distance at the other end, so that when set up in the manner of a worm fence, (the ends of each tray coming in contact,) the short ends of the rails of one tray will abut diagonally against the long ends of the rails of the other, and thus support each other in a vertical position; they are then secured together endwise by a clamp (D), which catches the end uprights of the two trays, across the innerside of the angle formed by them, and between the two middle rails. In setting up this fence, two trays are set together forming an acute angle, sothat the hooked ends of the clamp will pass around the uprights, when the trays are to be straightened out, until the clalnp binds them firmly together, forming an obtuse angle, which may be more or less, to give a greater or less degree of strength as required, and which may be regulated by the length of the clamp used, or the distance the uprights are placed from the ends of the rails. The short ends of the rails may also be beveled olf so as to cause them to fit solid against the long ends of the rails of the neXt tray, at the angle at which it is desired to arrange the worm. When a number of these trays are thus put together in a zigzag line, they form a very strong fence, binding each other from end to end, and may be set up on the natural surface of the ground without the necessity of any post holes, cross sills, or braces from the ground, and may be set up or taken down with great ease and rapidity.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

Constructing the panels of a portable fence with alternately abutting rails, in combination with the binding clamp (1),) in the manner substantially as herein described.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 18th day of October,

WM. B. BURN ETT. Witnesses:

W. VAN MARTER, CHAS. L. LYON. 

